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<p>Although the site is known as &quot;Fort&quot; Hill, it probably never served as a defensive work. A &quot;moat&quot; on the outside of the walls would have been of more aid to the defenders. Also, there are more than 30 openings, or gateways, in the wall. So many entrances would have been difficult to defend.</p>

<p>Many modern archaeologists believe Fort Hill was a ceremonial or religious center. The people known to archaeologists as the Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 500 A.D.) built the earthwork nearly 2,000 years ago.</p>

<p>Fort Hill is an Ohio Historical Society History Connection site that is open for visitation. It is located off of State Route 41 on Township Road 256. Fort Hill is five miles north of Sinking Springs and three miles south of Cynthiana in Highland County. Fort Hill also is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Natural Landmark.</p>

<p><strong>Archaeological investigations</strong>:</p>

<p>From 1952 to 1954, Raymond Baby (pronounced &quot;Bobby&quot;), then Curator of Archaeology for the Ohio Historical SocietyHistory Connection, directed excavations near the base of the hill upon which Fort Hill is located. There are two circular earthworks here and many artifacts had been found in the surrounding fields, leading the archaeologists to think there had been a village here. Baby claimed his study was &quot;the first real attempt to conduct explorations of a Hopewell village-site in Ohio.&quot;</p>

<p>In 1952, Baby excavated six exploratory trenches in this area. He uncovered a line of eight postholes, two small fire pits, and lots of artifacts including Hopewell pottery, flint tools, and mica fragments. He also dug a trench through the wall of one of the two small circular enclosures. He found postholes beneath the earthwork that appeared to be following the curve of the circle.</p>

<p>In 1953, Baby concentrated his work on the circular earthwork. He found the circular pattern of postholes beneath the earthwork actually formed two circles, one inside the other with about ten feet separating them.&nbsp; Apparently, there had been some kind of circular or donut-shaped building that the Hopewell people had taken down and buried under the circular earthwork. The floor of this large circular building was littered with pottery, flint chips, and pieces of mica.</p>

<p>In the 1954 field season, Baby and his team returned to the line of eight postholes they discovered in 1952. They found that these postholes were just a small section of a large, rectangular posthole pattern. This building would have been 120 feet long and 60 feet wide. It may or may not have had a roof. The archaeologists found many artifacts on the &quot;floor&quot; of this building including pits filled with chips of flint. Many of these flint flakes came from quarries as far away as Harrison County, Indiana. Buried in one of the postholes, excavators found the broken mid-section of an obsidian biface (a knife or spearpoint). Obsidian is a shiny, black, volcanic glass not normally found in Ohio. It was one of the raw materials the Hopewell obtained from far off regions.&nbsp;Bradley Lepper, archaeologist with the Ohio Historical SocietyHistory Connection, and a team of researchers restudied the obsidian artifact in 1998. Chemicals in the obsidian showed that it came from Obsidian Cliff at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Also, using a dating technique called &quot;obsidian hydration&quot; they learned the artifact was made around AD 306. The obsidian hydration dating method is based on the fact that obsidian slowly soaks up water, somewhat like a sponge. By measuring how far water has soaked into the obsidian, you can tell how long ago the artifact was made. </p>

<p>Just how the Hopewell artisans acquired the obsidian is still a mystery. Maybe they traded with neighbors who had traded with their neighbors all the way between Ohio and the obsidian's source in Wyoming. Maybe Hopewell pilgrims came from distant places bringing offerings of special magnificence to the earthworks.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The artifacts and features found by Baby do not seem to be the usual sorts of things found at Hopewell villages. The rectangular building is larger than any known Hopewell dwelling and the donut-shaped building buried beneath the circular earthwork also doesn't seem to be an ordinary house. This site probably relates to the ceremonial activities of the Hopewell people at Fort Hill. </p>